THE KINGDOM KEY TO ACCESSING THE THINGS OF THE KINGDOM

Matthew chapter 6













Today we are walking in: The Kingdom Key To Accessing The Things Of The Kingdom










Today we look to the word-KEY- H4668 maphteach--key, opening instrument




The Torah testifies...............

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The prophets proclaim..................





Isaiah 22:22

And the key H4668 of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.








The writings bear witness...........................




Judges 3:25

And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, H4668 and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.













“He who gets his personal worth from the things he possesses must be sure to never lose his possessions.”




THE KINGDOM KEY TO ACCESSING THE THINGS OF THE KINGDOM




One reason the concept of the Kingdom of Heaven is so hard for many people to grasp at first is because understanding it calls for a complete change of thinking. Moving from a worldly view to a Kingdom view requires a total paradigm shift. Priorities in the Kingdom are different from those in the world. Worth and value are assigned differently. Many of the things the world values most are regarded as worthless in the Kingdom of Heaven. Standards for evaluating greatness are very different between the world and the Kingdom. The world judges greatness in terms of money, power, and influence, while the Kingdom sees it in humility and self-giving service. And finally, the Kingdom and the world take entirely different views from each other with regard to things.




From the worldly point of view, things are an end in themselves. People seek the acquisition of things to satisfy their own selfish desires, to fill the emptiness in their hearts, to impress other people, and to advance their status and standing in the eyes of society. For Kingdom citizens, on the other hand, things are a means to an end, by-products of righteous living to be used not for selfish gratification but to bring blessings to others.




THE SEDUCTIVE POWER OF THINGS




Humankind is motivated, driven, and preoccupied with the pursuit of things. Few things in this world are more seductive to the heart of people than the lure of materialism. People’s greed for things is one of the strongest of all motivators of human behavior, often outstripping even the motivators of love and family loyalty. Outside the Kingdom of Yah virtually every human action can be traced back to a material motivation. The quest for things drives human culture.




Everything we do in life we do in order to get more things. Think about it. Why do people go to work? To maintain their ability to buy things. Why do many of them try to “marry up”? To have access to more things. Why do many people compromise their principles and sleep with the boss? It’s not out of love. They are simply trying to gain an advantage and position themselves for more power and more influence, which translate into more money for acquiring more things.




Religion is no help at all because it has been corrupted by the same seduction. “Religious” prayers, which include most of the prayers of many believers, are focused on things. Far too many people regard prayer as little more than a shopping list for Yah: “Yah, I want this, Most High, I need that, Yah, will you please give me this….”




As if materialistic prayers were not bad enough, most people also have a materialistic faith, a faith that is focused on things. Even within the church there are those whose main reason for following Hamachiach is for what they think they can get from Him.




Believing in Yah’s provision of our needs is both biblical and admirable, but many within the church have taken that sound concept too far by effectively making things, not Hamachiach, the object of faith. They “believe” for a new car or a new job or a new house. Rather than pursuing the Kingdom and righteousness of Yah, they have fallen into the trap of pursuing things, even if they are the things of the Kingdom. But as we have already seen, pursuit of things is always the wrong focus.




All human religions are built on the promise of things: a good harvest, the favor of the Yahs, victory over one’s enemies, good health, great wealth, enlightenment, control or manipulation of the environment, etc. “Religious” Christians are the same way except that they rely on Yahusha to provide what they want. Instead of looking on Hamachiach and His Kingdom as the desired end or goal of their faith, they use Him as merely a means to their real end—things.




Humankind as a whole persists in a collective madness by continually pursuing that which will only bring pain, disappointment, dissatisfaction, and destruction. Things are the source of the world’s problems. Crime, sickness, depression, jealousy, covetousness, malice, envy, strife, stress—you name it—at the root of all these problems and more lies the lust for things.




Why do thieves steal? They are after things. Why do politicians accept bribes? They are after things. Why do young hoodlums attack and even kill a teenage boy for his athletic shoes? They are after things. Why does a woman sell her body? She is after things. She wants to maintain a certain lifestyle. Why do businesses cut corners, cook the books, and pad their invoices? They are after things. Why does a drug dealer peddle his product to young kids and get them addicted? He is after things.




The lure of things is so powerful that even many Kingdom citizens who once were serious about their walk with Yah and their righteous positioning have been seduced by it. Once they could be seen on YouTube LIVE every time we were teaching and they would participate in talking back to me through comments. Now, however, they are almost never around. When you ask them why, they are always ready with an excuse: “Well, you know how it is. Times are tough. The economy is on the ropes and I’ve got to build my business. I don’t have time for Fiveamprayer right now. I’ve got to turn a profit. When I make a little more money, I’ll come back and bless Yah with a portion.” Or, “I have to work as much overtime as I can get. We just bought a new car and I have to make sure we can meet the payments.” Or, “I had to take a second job because my regular job doesn’t pay enough, and with my new job I have to work on Saturdays.”




On the surface these may sound like reasonable arguments, but in reality they take the exact opposite position to Yahusha when He said, “Seek first the Kingdom of Yah and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” These folks have gotten things topsy-turvy. They have stopped seeking the Kingdom and righteousness and begun working for the things that should be added. And in so doing they move out of position and shut themselves off from access to the blessings, benefits, favor, protection, and promotion that belong by right to every Kingdom citizen. Remember, however, that the active, ongoing pursuit of righteousness is the key to access. Instead of honoring and obeying the Yah of all things, they have instead made things their Yah.




If only we would learn to take to heart the truth and wisdom of the ancient Hebrew proverb that says, “The blessing of the Most High brings wealth, and He adds no trouble to it” (Prov. 10:22)! Prosperity without pressure! Wealth without worry! Treasure without trouble! These are the realities when we live on Kingdom land and abide by the laws of the King who owns it all. Remember, the Kingdom contains everything that Kingdom citizens need. And all Kingdom citizens have access by right of citizenship to all the things of the Kingdom as long as they pursue the Kingdom and righteousness and not the things themselves. This is the cure for the dangerously seductive power of things.




THE ANSWER TO HUMAN MOTIVATION




Why is our human drive for things so strong? Because we believe that things will satisfy all our basic needs. As I pointed out in a previous teaching, there is little question that the meeting of needs is the ultimate motivation for all human behavior. The universal problem of humankind, however, is that in our efforts to meet our needs we expend all of our time, energy, and resources pursuing things that will never bring the satisfaction we seek. Why? Because we pursue the wrong things and look for satisfaction in the wrong places.




Yah designed us for life in His Kingdom and it is only there that we find satisfaction and fulfillment. The Kingdom of Yah is the ultimate response to our needs. It satisfies our longings and answers all our problems. Everything we humans seek is found in the Kingdom of Yah. Everything. Let me use this analogy: The Kingdom of Yah is the tree and the needs of people are the fruit. If you want the fruit you go to the tree.

Most people buy fruit at the grocery store or from a produce market. That’s fine as long as the supply lasts. What happens if the supply line is cut or a shortage occurs? Suddenly, access to the fruit is cut off. If you want to ensure a steady supply of fruit, wouldn’t it be better to own your own tree? That way fruit would be available whenever you wanted it.




In the world’s system, the world is like the grocery store where we all must compete for limited resources. There is no competition in the Kingdom of Yah because its resources are unlimited. Every Kingdom citizen can have his or her own tree with an unfailing supply of fruit. When Yahusha said, “Do not worry about what you will eat or drink or wear for clothing,” He was asking, in effect, “Why run after the fruit and compete with everybody else when you can have the tree? Seek first the tree and all of the fruit will come with it.”




In a similar analogy, the Kingdom of Yah is the source and “all these things” are the resource. Why spend all your time and energy chasing resources when Kingdom citizenship and righteousness will give you unhindered access to the Source? Never try to live for or depend on resources because resources run out. Get connected to Yah, the Source, because His resources never run out.




The pursuit of things never brings satisfaction because of one simple truth: We don’t need things to have life; we need life to have things. Many people obsess over things because they derive their sense of personal worth and value from their possessions. They “need” a nice car in order to feel important. They must wear brand-name clothes to enhance their self-image. They must always buy the newest and latest thing if they are to feel fulfilled in life. Personal worth and importance are not found in these things, however. Self-worth and value are never found in things.




Our value and self-worth derive from who we are, not from what we have. We are of priceless worth to Yah irregardless of any possessions we own. Yahusha used the example of the birds and how Yah feeds them even though they do not “sow or reap or store away in barns” (Matt. 6:26). He gives them the tree and the nest and the food simply because they are birds and need these things. The birds do not worry about it. They do not toil or sweat or chase after these things. They simply receive from the Yah who created them and who supplies everything they need to fulfill their purpose as birds. Then Yahusha asks, “Are you not much more valuable than they?” In other words, if Yah supplies the birds’ needs because they are birds, won’t He also supply our needs because of who we are, human beings created in His image and much more valuable than birds?




Our innate importance attracts things. Yah does not give us things to make us important but because we are important. But we must never pursue things because that is the wrong focus. Instead we must pursue the Kingdom—our citizenship credentials—and righteousness, which is our right positioning with the Kingdom government. Then, when we are in the right position, Yah will provide everything He deems needful and appropriate for that position. This is the same idea as how earthly governments will provide their ambassadors with chauffeured limousines for official business rather than leaving them to putter around on motorbikes.




So the issue is not things, but living for the Kingdom. If all we care about is things, then we are on our own and must compete with the rest of the “pagans,” but if we are serious about serving our Government, our King will add to us everything necessary to do so with grace and in a manner that reflects most favorably on His Kingdom. In other words, if we are serious about serving and representing the Kingdom of Yah with righteousness, Yah will see to it that we are not forced to do so in a cheap or shabby manner.




Yah’s intent was fulfillment without frustration. Yahusha said, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33). Remember, as Most High of the universe, Yah owns everything. Nothing we have truly belongs to us and is not for us alone. When we seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, He gives us all these other things in order that we may fulfill our calling as Kingdom ambassadors and ministers of reconciliation.




Every human desires things. This is a Yah-given, and therefore Yahly, desire. What is unYahly is pursuing things as Yahs. Yah wants us to have them but He also wants to show us how to acquire them in the right way and with the proper Ruach. He wants us to have plenty of things but He does not want us to pursue them at the expense of our relationship with Him. He knows that there are things we need and want but He does not want the desire for things to control our lives.